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When your home doubles up as your business premises, it can feel hard to switch off and enjoy some downtime. It’s all too tempting to let your work take over your home life, especially if you are now pursuing a career that you love. However much you love your job, everyone needs to switch off sometimes, but achieving that much talked about work-life balance can seem like an impossible task.
Running a business from home offers many benefits. The fact that you don’t need to commute into work being one of the main ones, but life as a home-based entrepreneur isn’t all plain sailing. Here are some of the ways you can tackle the common problems faced by work from home business owners:
Feeling Guilty When You are Not Working
If you worked in an office building or factory, the chances are that when you clock out on a Friday afternoon, you won’t need to think about work until Monday morning. However, when you are self-employed, it isn’t that simple. Being at home can provide a constant reminder of the work you need to do, especially if it is all piled up in your kitchen.
To overcome your guilt, you could create a separate area for working in that you can physically close the door on until Monday. Alternatively, make sure that you pack up your work items out of sight. Tidying your work items away should help you to resist the temptation of working during your downtime.
Minimize Interruptions
Constant interruptions can impact on productivity and can be a huge source of frustration. When you are a one-person operation, there is no one to delegate too, so it is necessary to find other solutions to help beat the interruptions.
A phone that is continually ringing makes it hard to concentrate, so it may be a good idea to reduce the number of calls that you receive. Appointment Booking Software is the perfect solution, as many customers would probably prefer being able to book online and choose their appointment slot anyway.
Another useful tool to reduce the number of phone calls you receive is to think about the most common queries that your customers phone you with. Make a list of these, and then create a FAQ (frequently asked questions) page for your website. This means that your customers should be able to find the information they need without even picking up the phone.
Maximize Your Time
One of the most significant benefits of working from home and being your own boss is that you can pick your hours. However, if you are finding it hard to achieve any balance in your life, it may be useful to revert to office hours for a little while.
Having set working hours can help you to focus your mind on what needs to be achieved that day. This means that work shouldn’t infringe on your own time. Working in this way should set a distinct boundary between home life and work life.
